Compound ordnance



sheets-sneu 2.

(Nn Model.) l

J'. REBSB. CUMPOUND ORDNANGE.

#lun

Patented Feb.27, 1883.

(No Model.)l 4 Sheets-Sheet 3. J. REESE. COMPOUND ORDNANGE.

No. 272,900. Z, Patented Peb.27,1883.

4 Sheets-Sheet; 4.

(No Model.)

J. REESE. COMPOUND ORDNANGE. No. 272,900. Patented Feb.2'7, 1883.

UNITED- STATES PATENT- OFFICE.

` .woonst-nnss, or rrrrsnuue. PENNSYLVANIA COMPOUND ORDNANCE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 272,900, dated February 27, 1883.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, JACOB REESE, residing at Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State of' Pennsylvania, have invented a. certain new and nsei'ul improvement in the Manufacture ot Cannon; and I do hereby declare the following to be a i'nll, clear, and exact description thereof', reference being had tothe acceuipanying drawings, forming a part thereof, in which- Figure l on Sheet 1 indicates a plan view of av solid cylindrical caststeel ingot. Fig. 2 on Sheet 1 indicates a plan view ot' the Sallie after it has been welded and rolled orhammcred downto the required size to form a. solid homo geneous internal structure for a cannon, and after it has heen turned at one end, so as to be readily centered in a mold for casting the casttecl or east-iron jacket. of thecanuon around it. liig on Sheet l indicates a sectional longitudinal view of the jacket after being cast around the rolled or hammered steel cylinder. Fig. 4 on- Sheet l indicates a. longitudinal section of the gun after it is bored to form a breech-louder, the dotted linesiindicating tho thickness ol' the walls of the interior solid, hammered, or rolled tube formed by boring the hammered or rolled steel ingot. Fig. 1 on Sheet .l indicates a ground plan of a muzzleloading gun when finished. Fig. 2 on Sheet 2 indicates a longitudinal section of the same. Fig. 3 on Sheet 2 indicates an end view ot' the same. Fig. 1 on Sheet 3 indicates a vertical sect-ion of the gun-mold, with the solid hammered or rolled cast-steel cylinder adjusted in position in the ccnteraif the mold. Fig. 1 on Sheet 4 indicates a ground plan of the castin gpit, with the gun-mold and the core-heating furnace in place. AJiig. 2 on Sheet 4 indicates a sectional elevation of' a gas heatiug-fuiaiaee vwith the hammered or rolled cast-steel core or cylinder adjusted inposition for previous heating before being inserted in the easting-mold. Fig. 3 on Sheet 4 indicates a side view of a portion ot' the gun core or ingot and ot' a shield for adjustingthc upper portion ot' the core into the center oi the mold, and also -to permit a' portion of the metal to flow out ot the upper part of the mold, so as to secure a sound and solid topto the'gun in casting.

Like letters of reference indicate like parts wherever they occur.

My invention relates to the manufacture of ordnance or cannon; and it consists, rst,'in a new and useful method of 'producing a cast steel or cast-iron gun having a perfect weld or union with a dense, solid, and hornfrgeueous hammered or rolled core-barrel; second, in lau improved apparatus adapted to the use of my inventiornand, third, in the'improved product.

The objects are, first, to secure a close, dense, and homogeneous solid structure in that portion of the'stecl which forms the walls of the bore; secondly,` to form a perfect welding or union of the'core-barrel with the body of ,the gun; thirdly, to obviale the necessity furthe employment of the costly and cumbersome ma.-r chinery now in use for the manufacture of steel ordnance; and, fourthly, to improve the quality and reducel the cost ot' manufacture.

-lt isaA valt known-fact 'ioal-lmetallnr'gislsf n that steel ingots and castings have la cellular or porous structure, and, on the other hand, that. cast-iron may be produced comparatively free l'rom this detect. The reasons for this are, carbon, silicon, and phosphornsexertnmarked influence on the fusing-pointof iron. higher they are the lower will he the fusingpoint of llie metal, thegreater thcviluidityof the metal at an)l given temperature, and the longer it will remain in a linid condition after being cast. Castiron contains a large percentage ot' these impurities. Hence it will melt at a comparatively low temperature, may` 4be raised to a high degree of fluidity, and will re-l main in a fluid state fora considerable length lot' time after it is cast. Hence there is ample time and the proper conditions for the cscape,` after casting, of any gases which may be oc.. eluded in the metahand consequently a sound casting may be produced. 1n the manufacaction is occluded in the metal, andL as the sis The

proportion of .the impurities is low the 'steel requires a high temperature to maintain itv in a fluid condition, sets quickly ai'ter being cast,

and suliicient time or the properv conditions :o o l cannot be secured to allow the escape of the occluded gases after the metal has been cast. 1n order to overcome this defect, iuaas been usual to cast the in got and then subject it to 'a forging operation tobrng it to the size and shape required` for the This, however, linches `in thickness,

produces an imperfect result, as large masses frequentlyccutain c'vities,"and'haveacellular internal structure/even after having been sub-1 4,s J'ected :o the moet careful and skillful manip ulation. The most effective system of hammering proves inefficient when applied to large masses, in consequence of thefact that the inertia of the mass attacked will often cause the effect of the blow to be felt only near the exteri; or, the internal structure remaining after treatment nearly as spongy and irregular as before. Another defect of this system of treating large masses of steel is,"that it is necessary to' sub- .i 5 ject the' metal to repeated sectional `heatings,

Froingthe pre prevent a uniform physical 25/ duce( .imballimcring from a largejngot would be lia totb'epo'rous andspongyat the walls of tbehoiye.-. ,It/,is necessary, however, that the l )o re Al should be of a close and uniform stlnt'urepfrec "from* cells undr soft or' hard I 3o' spots, imorder thatfthe friction on the pei-iphery ot' theiballor projectile in'its passage out of the gunrimay he uniform, soithat in its flight the ball-lor projectile lwill vtravel in a line'par- -allgkwith the boremf the'gnn 5' and in order toy 35 'secure these Yrequisites l propose to produce' the guns orordnance by amethod consisting,

f `essentially,'ofthe following steps: I first cast an ingot '6i' any suitable quality'of steel, and hammerzfit down into a cylinder about from o tw to six inches greater' in diameter andfrom two tosix feetlonger than the proll'osed dialneter andV length olfy bore in the finished gun. The hammeredcore is plaeed'in a suitable mold,'ta'nd thexlbody of the gun is then formed 45 by castinfg-themolten metal around the 'centraLcore,f-aud.\v`l1en the gun is'cold it iswithdrawnlfrin the' mold, bored, and' finished in I the usu'afl manner, som'thatin this lnase a perfect we ofthecoie tothe body pt' the gun is had,

5o au the'dense, slid,and'honogeneous structure of -fthe'ex'terior part of the hammered ingot is secured'utthe walls/of thefboe. y

Iu thefpractic'e of this meyiod'o treatment I amienbledto" solidify an rend/er the metal depth Ofi'iltomfth'ree" to't'our inches from ythe sult'acefbyftheuse b f'bomparatively light compressiri'gror4 hammering machinery, and by placing the hammered or compressed cylinder 6o in the niold and rnnni'ngth molten metalinto d steel, of from `one to three welded perfectly (to the body ofthe gun. ,Y ,.7 1 shall now describe my in veutiou more fully, so that others skilled iu the art to whicha't ap^ pertains may make and use the same, 4

1u the drawings, vA indicatesa plan view of mold and gas-heating ingot-furnace in place within it.

B indicates the core-ingot adjusted in position in thecenterof the mold. j 1

B indicates an annular opening at the top of the mold to allowr the excess of metal to flow up out of the mold.

b indicates the flare ofthe hopperat the central portion of the upper part ot' the mold.

b indicates the walls of the hopper. l b2 indicates the outside line of the base of the central hopper.

through which the excess of metal may dow ofi'. c indicates the gates vthrough which lthe metal is run into the mold.; d indicates the Hare ofthe gate-hoppers, and d theirunetallic rims.'

which is situated in tbecasting-pit at one yside ofthe iask or mold. This gas heating-furnace is of a cylindrical form, and 4is provided with tion, and an outlet, e', which `opens into a waste-gas tine, c2,- wh'ich runs to a waste-,gas stack,e". f -e indicates adjusting-screws for adjusting the hammered ingot or core iu the center of the gas heating-furnace. 'e

In Fig. 1 on Sheet 3, Findicates face-plates,

and placed in the bottom of the gates, to preofthe gates when poured into them.

f indicates the openings at the bottom ofthe gates to allow the metall to run into the mold, andf indicates the annular openings between the gates and the mold which form the trunnions.

G indicates the annular ripening between the core and the mold to form the body ofthe gun. A .l

H indicates the bearing ribs, which are planed true, so that the sections ot' the mold may tit trueva'ud tightly together; and El indiribs, in order/to prevent the mold fromwarping-*mn l l of the gun communicate with the gates. The idea of this is to allow a portion ofthe metal to flaw from the gates into the mold through soundnessat the trunnions.

twelve feet in length is to be produced, Inc-ast au ingot of any suitable quality of steel about vent the molten metal from'cutting the bottom cates the dpressionsin the ask adjoining the:

lVhen a gun' of, say, teninch kbore and the casting-plt, (see Sheet 4,) with the cannony85 b3 indicates the spontofthe'central hopper'` E indicates the cap ofa gas hentingfuruace,

an air and gas inlet hue, @,at its lower porroo which are formed ot" tile of the required size, e

IIC

lis

1t will be noticedby reference to Sheet3 thatthe annular spacesilvhich form the trunnionsthe trunnion-openings,`and 4thus secure greater l twenty, inches vin .diameter and of sucient l weight to form a core, when hammered, ofthe 4 length desired. The ingot is then heatedand hammered down to aboutfrom fourteen to sixteeninches in diameter, and one of its ends is r beveled ofi', as shown in Fig. 3 on Sheet 1, so that it may be afterward readily centered in the casting-mold. The hammered core is then conveyed to the casting-pit, and the cap ofthe core-heating furnace is removed, and the core 1o is lowered down and arranged in its center. The cap of the furnace is then replaced, and

gas and air are admitted intothe bore-heating furnace until the core is properly heated, when they are shut ot', the cap oi' the furnace is removed, and the mold having been prepared, the core is withdrawn -from the furnace and deposited and adjusted inthe center of the mold. The steel or cast-iron is then caused to dow into both ofthe gates in a steady continzo nous manner untilthe molten metal arises to .and ilows out of the central hopper at the top ofthe dash. The pouringorv quantity of metal caused to dow in should be re'duced to a less de- Agreeat this point, butshould be continued to cause the slag and impurities which rise tothe -top ofthe metal to flow out of the hopper, in

order that a sound upper portion of the cast-v ing may be produced. After the outer shell of the casting has solidified, the bolts which unite the mold-sections should be .loosened somewhat, to enable the gun to shrink, and the casting-pit should be covered andhermetically sealed and allowed to remain until the gun. is ecol, when it may bewithdrawn, placed in a lathe', and the trunnious turned, and it is then bored and finished' inthe usual manner. By this method I am enabled to produce any size, kind, or form of steel guns having a close, dense, and solid texture of the metal at 40 the walls of the bore, having the walls of the borewelded perfectly to the main body of the gun, and possessing a tensile strength of from tifty to one hundred apd fifty thousand pounds per square inch of the cross section, the tensile strength being relative to the percentage ofcarhon combined with the steel; and I am also able to produce a stronger cast-iron gun than has heretofore been ma'de, as it will pos, sess a close, dense, solid internal structure 5c composed of'hammered steel welded perfectly to the castfiron main body of thegun.

The steelcore may be made of crucible, openheartinor .Bessemer cast-steel, and the main body of the gun may bc made of either cast.-

steel or cast-iron, as desired, asin either case' a perfect unio'n with the red-hot steelcore may be had; .but cesti-ren cannot be relied on nto resist a rliptnring train oi' over thirty thousand pounds to the square inch, and as steel 6o can be readily made to sustain t'our times this amount of strain, I prefer to construct the gun entirely of steel.

In the practice oi' the invention l px'cferto use steel producedbyfthe basic process, as

it can be made ot' a purer and tougher quality forinly distributed; fourth, as the entire gunI may be made of a single massV of the same quality ot' steel, its expansion and contraction will be more uniform during service, its strength will be more uniform, and its liability to rupture during service greatly decreased;-

fth, the walls ot the bore will be more uniform in texture than ifthe wholegun were ham.- mered', as the comparatively small size and the regular form of the core-ingot enable it to be hammered at one heat, whereas the gun would require a series of sectional reheatings, which would produce internal strains; sixth, a better and cheaper gun can be produced, as the walls ofthe bore will be solid, end the machinery and labor necessary for hammeringits irregular shape can be dispensed with; seveuth, gunsor ordnance can be produced readily and quickly with the machinery now in use in this country for other purposes, th'us avoiding use of any other process known the necessityof building a costly plant to work the invention.

I am aware that it has been proposed to cast ordnance in successive layers, forging' each layer separately while hot, and do not herein claim thel same, for the reason that by such a method the separate layers are subjected to a series ot' unequal beatings and strains, which destroy tbe-uniform character ofthe metal or its homogeneity, aud the metal immediately surrounding the bore is not compressed, as in .the present invention. i

Having described my invention, what "I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s-

1., The method herein described of manu-y facturing cannon, Iwhich consists, essentially, in casting a cast-steel iugot or core, hammerternally and a homogeneous external shell is formed thereon, casting the metal which forms ing out the center 'of the compressed core, substantially as and for the purpose specified. f

2. A guuthe lining of which is composed of hammered steel and the outer body-of a singlef casting of metal cast upon it, substaning the same until. its porosity, is reduced ex- 

